SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OF BEEF CATTLE IN TRANSIT. 
Table 24. — Range coivs in transit over 24 hours. 
63 
NlUTl 
ber I 
of 
head. ! 
Point of origin. 
Time 
in 
transit, 
Aver- 
age 
weight 
at 
point 
of 
origin. 
Aver- 
age 
weight 
at des- 
tination 
after 
fill. 
net 
shr ink- 
Remarks. 
50 
29 
255 
29 
145 
291 
Odessa, Tex. 
do 
do 
do 
do 
do.... 
do..:. 
....do.... 
do.... 
27 
do 
56 
do 
27 
do 
60 
do 
Hours. \Pounds. 
2% 
2SS 
25 
31 
29 
24i 
24i 
24i 
27" 
26 
24i 
24i 
24J 
30^ 
331 
Grand average . 
,002 
876 
907 
910 
973 
974 
905 
895 
844 
1,001 
885 
817 
852 
876 
Pounds. 
903 
904 
929 
924 
943 
850 
849 
828 
950 
845 
774 
827 
Founds. 
64 
40 
4 
6 
44 
50 
39 
26 
35 
Trailed 7 miles carefully. 
Had a poor fill when loaded. 
Trailed 2 days. Plenty of grass and 
water on- road to nens. 
Driven 8 miles. Had neither feed nor 
water before loading. 
Driven 110 miles in 7 days to loading 
pens. No feed or water 20 hours 
before. 
On road 2 days. Plenty of grazing. 
Had medium fill. 
Driven 8 miles. Looked well and had 
a good fill. 
Do. 
Driven 35 miles in 3 days. Had 
medium fill. Poor ran to Fort 
Worth. 
Trailed 90 miles in 6 days. Medium fill. 
Had a poor run to market. 
875 
32 
A comparison of Table 23 and Table 24 shows that the shrinkage 
on cows that received a normal run to market is much more uniform 
than for those that were delayed in transit or that just made slower 
time. An average of all the shipments of the cows that were from 
1 to 10 hours longer in transit than an average good run from 
the same points shows an increased shrinkage of but 4 pounds, but 
the shrinkages were much more variable. In some cases, however, 
a large shrinkage could only be attributed to delayed transportation. 
The average shrinkage on 983 cattle from Odessa, Tex., in Table 23 
that were in transit less than 24 hours was 28 pounds per head, while 
the shrinkage on those over 24 hours in transit was 32 pounds per 
head. The cattle were practically the same size in each case, and 
were handled under similar conditions. 
A comparison of the shrinkage of range cows in the Southwest in 
transit under 36 hours can be made with the shrinkage of range 
cows in the Northwest for the first period of their journey, averaging 
36 hours (see Table 21). In the Northwest the shrinkage for the 
first 36 hours was 39 pounds per head, while in the Southwest the 
shrinkage was 32 pounds. The shrinkage on southwestern cows 
for the short runs (Table 23) was 34 pounds. These results are 
seen to be very uniform when we consider the live weights of the 
